Trinidad and Tobago finished strong at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games track and field competition in San Salvador, El Salvador, late on Friday, striking gold in the Men’s 4×400 metres relay in three minutes, 01.99 seconds.

Veteran quarter-miler Renny Quow ran the leadoff leg for T&T, handing the baton to Che Lara. Machel Cedenio performed third leg duties, moving from fourth to second. Anchorman Jereem “The Dream” Richards did the rest, overhauling Barbadian Desean Boyce to secure top spot for T&T. The Barbadians got silver in 3:02.12, just ahead of the Dominican Republic, the bronze medallists in 3:02.19.

T&T ended San Salvador 2023 with 19 medals–eight gold, seven silver, four bronze. The impressive performance saw them finish eighth on the medal table. Mexico topped the table with 145 gold medals, 108 silver and 100 bronze. Colombia (87 gold, 92 silver, 65 bronze) and Cuba (74 gold, 59 silver, 63 bronze) were second and third, respectively.

Swimmer Dylan Carter was responsible for three of the eight T&T gold medals, while cyclist Nicholas Paul captured the men’s sprint title. The four other gold medals were earned by the track and field team – Men’s 4×4, men’s 4×1, Keshorn Walcott in the Men’s javelin and Richards in the Men’s 400m.

Kelsey Daniel was just off the podium in Friday’s Men’s triple jump, the T&T athlete finishing fourth with a 16.10 metres effort. Cuba’s Lazaro Martinez won with a Games record distance of 17.51m. Another Cuban, Cristian Napoles disturbed the sand at 17.11 to claim silver, ahead of Venezuela’s Leodan Torrealba, the bronze medallist at 16.41.

T&T earned silver in the women’s netball tournament, behind champions Jamaica. In the title decider, late on Friday, the Jamaicans emerged with a 50-36 victory.

Afeisha Noel scored 24 goals from 26 attempts for T&T. Joelisa Cooper provided solid support with perfect 12 from 12 shooting. For Jamaica, Simone Gordon scored 41 of her 43 attempts.

In an earlier match, St Vincent and the Grenadines edged Barbados 51-50 to claim bronze.

T&T finished seventh in the women’s volleyball tournament. In the seventh-place playoff, contested on the final day of the Games, yesterday, T&T battled from behind to get the better of hots El Salvador 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23. Channon Thompson had 25 points for the winners, including 18 spikes.

At Presa El Rincon, in Dominican Republic, T&T’s Nicholas Robinson finished seventh in the men’s single kayak 200m final in 42.61 seconds. Mexican Jose Eguia clocked 37.61 to grab gold, with silver going to Dominican Republic’s Alexander Concepcion in 37.80. Venezuelan Ray Acuna (38.87) bagged bronze.

In the qualifying round, Robinson was third in heat one and seventh overall in 40.64 seconds.